When the Cat's Away
by littlemissprincess721
Summary: The mice will play, or so they say. 6th story in the Littlest CSI series. Full summary inside. Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Emily Taylor! Chapter 7 and 8 now up! COMPLETE!
1. Caricature

The sixth story in the Littlest CSI series! YAY! Horatio and Calleigh have married and leave work for a week to go on their honeymoon. They trust that Emily, Ryan, and Eric will take good care of the lab while they are gone. But when the cat's away the mice will play, or so they say. At the end of the week, the trio has to deal with an especially tough case. How will they handle this case with their leader gone?

Sunday, August 13, 2006, 10:45 AM

"I trust I'm leaving my Lab in capable hands?" Horatio Caine said with a smile as he fiddled with his sunglasses.

Emily, Ryan, and Eric, or as they were now known around the Lab- The Three Musketeers, smiled innocently at him.

"Sure boss." Said Eric.

"We'll take care of everything." Ryan chimed in.

Emily winked. "You just go and have fun with Mrs. Calleigh Caine."

Horatio's smile widened. "I'm sure I will." He looked up and nodded to his Team.

He turned to walk in the gate at the airport, taking his wife's arm. Calleigh waved and smiled. They were soon gone, on their way to Hawaii for their honeymoon.

Emily giggled. "I knew it would work. I knew it."

The wedding yesterday had been beautiful, on a beach in full Miami sunshine. Horatio and Calleigh had both looked truly happy as they took their vows. Emily couldn't be happier for them.

Eric and Ryan smiled at their little friend.

"Let's get back to the lab." Said Ryan.

They arrived at the lab about an hour later, due to morning traffic.

"It's all ours boys. For a whole week." Emily said, clapping her hands and rubbing them together.

"I really don't like that look on your face." Said Ryan, although he was smiling too.

"What are you up to?" Asked Eric.

"Oh, a few things." Said Emily vaguely as she walked off to her locker.

Later that day, Eric was working in the Trace Lab when he saw a sheet of paper on the table. He pulled it towards him. It was a perfectly done caricature of Rick Stetler, face contorted into his famous scowl. A speech bubble by his head said: 'I am a stuffed, bloated, self-centered know it all.'

Eric laughed and walked out in the hall to find Ryan. What he saw shocked him. The lab was covered in these fliers. They were taped to the walls and were on most of the desks. He looked around the lab and saw people reading the fliers by their desks, laughing at the fliers on the walls and at the end of the hall was one very angry looking Stetler.

Eric ducked back into the Lab, nearly doubled over with laughter as Stetler stormed the halls, pulling down fliers and yelling at passing lab techs.

Ryan ducked into the Trace Lab just after Stetler passed on his rampage. He chuckled.

"Look's like Emily's hard at work already." Said Eric with a grin.

"I got a note from her." Ryan said holding up a small slip of paper.

Eric took a look at the note.

_Beat that, Wolfe._

"Look's like you've been called out," said Eric handing back the note. "What are you going to do?"

"Think of something good," said Ryan with a smile. "I don't know how I'm going to have time though. I have date tonight."

"Who with?" Eric asked looking up from his work.

"A lab tech. Her name is Genevieve, she's nice and she's really hot." Wolfe said with a grin.

Eric shook his head. "I wish you luck, man."

"Hey, aren't you and Valera going out?"

"Yeah."

Eric smiled. He had started dating Valera about a month ago, and he really liked her. She was fun, sweet and spunky and she could make him laugh.

"Good for you," Ryan said with a smile. "Hey, I have to go home and plan my prank before my date. See you tomorrow."

"I'm expecting something really good," Eric called as Ryan left the lab. "She's gonna be tough to beat."

Ryan grinned. He knew exactly what he was going to do.

There's the first chapter. I just had to put something about Emily ragging on Stetler in there somewhere. Haha


	2. Exploding Pen's?

When the Cat's Away, Chapter 2

Monday, August 14, 2006 6:30 AM

Ryan Wolfe walked into the office an hour early Monday morning feeling pretty good about the prank he was about to pull. He had a bag with about 150 exploding confetti pens.

He went to his locker and stashed his other items. Grabbing the bag with the pens, he visited every Lab for the next 45 minutes replacing every pen he could find with an exploding pen. He put the regular pens in a separate bag to be returned later. When he was done he had 43 left over. He dumped the extra pens in various baskets and hid a few others for people to find later. He put the bag of regular pens in his locker and headed to the Break Room.

He read a book and ate a muffin while he waited for everybody to show up.

He glanced at the clock 15 minutes later. It was 7:30. Showtime.

He got up, making sure he had a regular pen in his pocket for his own use. He walked to the Trace Lab and found Emily already hard at work, running prints through AFIS.

She had a hit quickly. "Hey, Ryan. Do you have a pen?"

He smiled. This was too good to be true. "There's one on the desk there." He said pointing to a very innocent, plain looking black pen.

Emily reached for the pen and picked it up. She took of the top and…

BANG.

The pen exploded in her face leaving pieces of confetti raining down on her. Ryan was cracking up. The expression on her face of shock and surprise was priceless.

"Fine!" She said glaring at him. She marched over to a blue pen she spotted and took off the top of that one.

BANG.

Ryan was positively howling now. "Good thing I got them in two colors."

Emily glared and slapped him over the head. He ducked out of the lab before he could be smacked more.

He found Eric in the break room, twirling one of the prank pens in his fingers as he looked over some paperwork. Ryan plopped down in his chair and munched on what was left of his muffin, waiting.

Eric paused and leaned closer to the paper. He took the lid of the pen to scribble something and…

BANG

Eric's reaction was even funnier that Emily's. He fell out of his chair, a look of shock plastered to his face. He scrambled to his feet and stared at the confetti falling onto the table. He turned to Ryan, who was doubled over in laughter.

"What the hell was that?"

Ryan just kept laughing. Eric looked at him for a moment and then realized who was behind this. He grabbed Ryan and put him in a friendly chokehold.

"I am going to kill you!"

Emily walked into the Break Room. "Can I kill him first?"

"You got one too?" Eric asked.

"No, I found five. It's really hard to tell whether they're regular pens or exploding pens." She replied, glaring at Ryan.

Ryan grinned. Eric released him.

"I have to admit, Ryan that was pretty good. I know you've already gotten all the Secretaries. I'd like to see Eric beat both of our pranks." Emily said, turning to Eric with her hands on her hips.

Eric raised his eyebrows at the challenge. "Oh I think I can."

The rest ofMonday was filled with sounds of small explosions, cries of shock, and laughter. The lab was definitely a little crazy with Horatio gone.

Horatio meanwhile, was relaxing on a lounge chair, watching the waves of the ocean calmly bathe Hawaii's shores. Calleigh was next to him, tanning and sipping on a Margarita, her hand entwined in his.

"I wonder how everything is going back home?" Horatio said, turning to look at Calleigh.

Her beautiful green eyes met his. "I'm sure the others are handling things just fine."

Horatio leaned over and kissed his wife. "Good."


	3. Tarred and Feathered

When the Cat's Away, Chapter 3

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Eric arrived at the lab at 5:00 to set up his prank. His prank was more personal; it would be played on Emily and not the entire lab.

He went to the supply closet and began rigging it with all sorts of trip wires.

He stepped back and surveyed his work. Perfect.

Later, he and Emily were working in the Trace Lab. Eric trashed his sticky, dirty gloves to go over a new piece of evidence. He looked around for a minute.

"Emily, I think we're out of gloves. Would you mind grabbing some from the supply closet?"

"Sure." Emily said.

She removed her gloves and her lab coat and walked down the hall. Eric followed her quietly, waiting. She went in, her back turned to him while she searched for the gloves. He shut the door quietly and locked it. He pressed his ear against it and waited.

Emily found a box of gloves and reached out to grab them. She noticed as she pulled them towards her, that there was a piece of string sticking out of the back of the glove box. Her eyes followed the path of the string up the wall, but it was too late.

SPLAT! A whole bucket-full of green paint fell down right on top of her head. She wiped her eyes, shaking the paint off her fingers. She could feel the paint running in rivulets down her shirt. Her pants were covered and it was all over her shoes. She stepped backwards blindly looking for a towel. She tripped over a small wire and laughed as a bucket of feathers rained down on her.

"Great, I'm tarred and feathered." She mumbled.

She laughed as she finally found the towel. She wiped her face and found that the towel had been covered in shaving cream, which was now all over her face.

At that moment Eric opened the door. Emily wiped the shaving cream out of her eyes as she turned to face him. He was laughing.

"Eric," she said with a smile as she spread her arms out. "Come here and give me a hug."

She ploughed into him, covering him with paint, feathers and shaving cream.

Eric gasped as he stepped back. He looked at Emily

"Oh you are so dead!" He yelled as he took off after her.

Ryan was in the AV lab working with Dan, when the two of them ran by at full speed, laughing.

"What?" Ryan said as Dan looked at him quizzically.

He poked his head out the door and followed the two of them to the locker room. He found Emily cornered by Eric. Eric scooped her up, slung her over his shoulder, and carried her over to Ryan.

"Eric Delko, put me down now!" She screamed, struggling.

"What should I do with her, Ryan?" He asked.

"Looks like you've done enough." Ryan said looking at his two colleagues, who were covered in shaving cream, feathers and paint.

"Thank you, Ryan." Emily chimed in.

"But…I think we can do one thing." Ryan said grinning. Eric nodded.

They both knew Emily was one of the most ticklish people ever. Eric let her down and they proceeded to tickle her mercilessly for the next five minutes.

"Okay, guys, stop!" Emily gasped, laughing.

They backed off.

"Okay, I just have to say, Eric's prank was very funny. However, so was Ryan's. I think we're going to have to call it a draw." Emily said with a smile.

The boys agreed. Emily and Eric left to take showers, and Ryan returned to the AV lab.

"Chaos reigns, huh?" Dan asked as he turned to face Ryan.

Ryan grinned. "Not chaos…just a kid having a good time."


	4. Never Going to Forget

Wednesday, August 16. Hawaii.

Horatio groaned and rolled over in the bed, his arm reaching out for Calleigh. He was met by thin air.

His eyes snapped open and he sat up straight. "Calleigh?" He called.

"In here handsome." Calleigh's light, beautiful voice called to him from the bathroom.

Horatio shook his head and got up. He padded softly in his bare feet to the bathroom, where he found Calleigh dressed in a knee-length prairie skirt and a t-shirt. He smiled as he snaked his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Morning." He mumbled, drowsily.

She laughed. "Good morning. You ready?"

"For what?" He asked, turning her so she was facing him.

"Breakfast," Calleigh said brightly. She slipped out of his arms and gave him a quick kiss. "We only have 20 minutes to get down there." She called as she searched for her shoes.

"Let me shower."

Horatio stepped out of the bathroom 15 minutes later, showered and dressed.

"Hey, Emily just called." Calleigh said.

"Really?" Horatio said as he grabbed his shoes from the closet.

"Yeah. She said everything at the lab is fine and she hopes we're having a good time."

"I personally, am having a wonderful time." Horatio said as he took Calleigh's hand and escorted her down to breakfast.

Emily smiled as she hung up her cell phone in the Break Room after talking to Calleigh. Apparently, she and Horatio were having a wonderful time, and Calleigh was happier than she had ever been. This was definitely a good thing.

Eric walked into the break room. "What's got you so happy?"

"I just talked to Calleigh. Sounded like she is enjoying the honeymoon."

"Good. Look we have a new case. Looks like a homicide."

"I'll get my kit."

"Ryan and I will meet you at the car."

20 minutes later they had pulled up to the new Crime Scene. Emily walked into the house, looking around at the marble floors and the expensive paintings that decorated the walls. Tripp was interviewing a man and a woman in the corner. The woman was sobbing and clinging to the man's chest, while the man was rubbing her back.

Emily made her way up the wrap-around staircase. A police officer pointed her to the bedroom at the end of the hall.

She gasped as she entered the room. It was a child's bedroom. The mangled body of a little girl lay on the bed. Blood stained the covers, the walls, and the floors of the room.

She walked slowly over to the girl's body. She looked at the blood stained face.

"No…" She whispered.

She felt her stomach churning. She dropped her kit and ran out of the room, into the bathroom, and proceeded to heave up her breakfast.

Eric saw Emily dash out of the room for the bathroom. He put down his kit by the bedroom door, and walked into the bathroom to find her retching. He leaned over and rubbed her back until the heaving finally stopped.

Emily stood up slowly on shaky legs and flushed the toilet. She went to the sink and splashed some water on her face. She stood there for a minute leaning against the sink.

"Are you alright?" Eric asked.

"It was her," Emily said softly. "That was the girl I saved. It was my first case. Don't you remember?" She turned towards him.

Eric eyes widened with realization and pulled her into a hug. She leaned on him for a moment, allowing him to comfort her and then she pulled back. She looked up at him. Her eyes had a look of raw anger and determination.

"We are going to get the bastard that did this." She growled, stalking back to the room.

She paused at the door, steeling herself. She opened her kit and began to process with Ryan. Eric stood next to Alexx, discussing time and cause of death.

Emily took her crime light and began looking over the blood on the walls, looking for any sort of pattern; there was none. She was taking samples of the blood when something on the floor caught her attention. It was brown, and had the consistency of sand. She photographed it, and bagged the evidence. She carefully swept the rest of the room, searching the little girl's dresser for anything out of the ordinary. She found a small piece of paper that looked out of place. She photographed it, and picked it up.

She looked at it for a minute. It had a sequence of numbers on it. She studied the numbers carefully and immediately recognized the first three numbers as Miami's area cod. It was a phone number, but the number was incomplete. She bagged the paper.

She went out in the hall and searched all the bedrooms but found nothing else on that floor. As she descended the marble staircase she found a bloody shoe print. She photographed it, took a sample of the blood, and lifted it.

She continued her search on the first floor and found nothing else out of the ordinary. She paused by the basement door. More bloody shoe prints. These were different from the previous one she had found. She took more pictures, took samples of the blood, and lifted two more shoe prints. She opened the door and found a staircase.

Tensing, she pulled out her gun and walked carefully down the stairs. She paused at the bottom of the stairs and took in the room before her. It was bare, no paint on the walls, no carpet, but it was stacked with boxes. One of the boxes was open. She holstered her gun and approached the box. It was filled with small, leather, drawstring cases of some sort. She opened one. Inside were small, plastic bags of Heroin.

She pulled out her cell phone and called Eric.

"Hey, Eric, you might want to…" Pain coursed through her head and everything went black.

"Emily? Emily!" Eric shouted into the phone.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked as Eric pulled his gun.

"Come on, we've got to find Emily!"

Ryan and Eric rushed down the stairs guns drawn, searching each room as they passed through the house. They finally found the stairs to the basement. Eric paused at the top of the stairs and signaled to Ryan to proceed with caution.

A man stood over the youngest CSI. He picked her up and began to drag her to the door. He heard running footsteps, dropped the girl and took off out the basement door, escaping two very angry CSIs.

"Emily?" Eric called, his eyes sweeping over the room. He saw her cell phone on the floor. Nearby was a small leather pouch. He opened the pouch and pulled out a plastic bag.

"I've got Heroin." He called to Ryan.

"Eric, I found her!" Ryan yelled back.

Eric dropped the Heroin and ran around the crates. He knelt next to Ryan, who was checking her over for any injuries. His hands reached her head.

"There's a nasty bump here," he said, feeling the back of her head. "But otherwise, I think she's okay."

"Emily, wake up." Eric called softly, gently shaking her shoulder.

Emily moaned as she came to. "What happened?"

"You got knocked out," Ryan said. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two."

"Good. Look at me." Ryan said. His eyes searched hers for a moment looking for any irregularity in the pupils. He saw none.

"Okay. Let's get you up." Eric said. He and Ryan helped Emily to her feet.

"Feeling dizzy?" Ryan asked as soon as she was on her feet.

"Nope," Emily replied, rubbing the back of her head. "I just have one hell of a headache."

"Let's process this place and get back to the lab." Eric said.


	5. Angry at the World

When the Cat's Away, Chapter 5

Wednesday afternoon.

Emily worked in the Lab, processing the shoe prints she had found. Laying the prints out on the table, she took the one she had found in the girl's bedroom and put it in the scanner so that she could cross reference it. She found the shoe print in the girl's bedroom came from a Nike Mavrk shoe. She measured the print; it was a man's size 11.

She did the same for the other two shoe prints and found that another man, wearing Nike Doernbecher Air Max Rivals, size 10, and a woman, wearing Nike Air Riovera Sandals, size 8, was also at the scene.

Next she ran a search on the partial number that she had found. The database found over three hundred possible matches in Miami. She rested her head on the coolness of the table and closed her eyes. Her headache was coming back and she was frustrated.

"Got anything?" Ryan asked as he walked in through the glass doors.

"Yeah. I've got two men and a woman, possibly, wearing these shoes in these sizes, at the Scene." She said as she handed him the photographs and the measurements.

"I also ran the partial phone number, and I got three-hundred possible matches in Miami."

"Well we can narrow that down." Said Ryan.

"How?"

"Well, we'll cross reference the phone records for the household and see if this number matches any of those."

Ryan pulled up the numbers and ran it. He had three matches.

"This is weird." He said, gazing at the computer screen.

"What?"

"Two of these numbers occur frequently, incoming and outgoing calls that suggest that they are to a family friend or something. This one," he said pointing to the third match. "Is only incoming and the conversations were very short."

"Interesting…"

Eric walked in. "We just brought in the foster parents for an interview."

Emily needed no further instruction. She gathered her papers in a file and stormed down the hall to the interview room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Mingen. I am Emily Taylor, CSI." She said shaking their hands.

"Are you going to tell us what happened to Annie?" Mrs. Mingen said. Emily searched her face; it was streaked with tears. Her eyes were sad, at least at first glance, but there was something else there that Emily couldn't place. Steel, maybe anger? Resolve? She couldn't tell but it was something that shouldn't be there for a woman in grief.

"Yes, hopefully," Emily said, stepping back. "But first, I need your help."

She slid the printout of the three phone numbers towards the couple, noting the husband's stoic silence.

"Can you tell me who these numbers belong to?"

Mr. Mingen took the printout and looked it over carefully. "These top two are our family friends, the Browns and the Sykes. They have kids. We would take Annie to play with them."

Emily nodded. "What about the third number?"

The husband's eyes went from honest, to closed and angry. Emily noted the change.

"I don't know." He said evenly, sliding the paper back towards her.

"Now that's where you're wrong Mr. Mingen. These calls were all accepted, multiple times, and they all lasted for at least three minutes. I would be more willing to believe you if the calls had been for less than one minute, however, three minutes suggest conversation. Also, you had three calls from this particular number the day before your foster-daughter died."

"Listen, you have no right…" Said Mr. Mingen, half rising to his feet.

"I do have a right. You see Mr. Mingen, we can already hold you for possession with intent to sell."

She tossed one of the little leather pouches across the table. A small bag of Heroin spilled out.

Emily looked at the couple again. She noticed the immediate change in both of their eyes. They turned angry, and protective.

"How old are you?" Asked Mr. Mingen, glaring at her.

"Sixteen."

"How the hell did you get this job?"

"Listen," Mrs. Mingen interjected, touching her husband's arm. "We loved Annie! We would have done anything to protect her!"

"Then where were you when she died? Why do you have a huge stash of Heroin in your house? How could you let such a brutal death happen to a helpless little girl?" Emily shouted, leaning over the table.

"We did not just let something like this happen!" Mrs. Mingen yelled back.

"You did, and if it is the last thing I do I am going to put you in jail!" Emily yelled.

"Emily!" Eric said storming into the room. "Can we talk? Outside?"

Emily shot a final glare at the parents and stormed out the door.

"What are you doing in there?" Eric said angrily. "You can't just yell at our only witnesses."

"They left a little girl alone in her room to die as far as we know." Emily said angrily.

"Look, let me finish up from here. Go back to the lab and try to trace that last number on the list." Eric said.

Emily turned on her heel and stormed off, angry at the world.


	6. Impatience

When the Cat's Away Chapter 6

Wednesday Afternoon

Emily stormed back to the lab, frustrated to tears. She plopped down in her chair, pushing herself over to the phone. She dialed the number from the house phone records.

"Yo?" A voice answered.

"Hello," Emily said adjusting her voice. "I need to buy." Emily was running on the assumption that this guy was selling drugs.

"Cool, Cool," the unknown voice answered. "Uh…bring cash…" The voice rattled off an address. Emily scribbled it down and hung up the phone.

She ran down the hall. "Eric!" she yelled catching up to him. "I have a location for that number. We have to go now."

"Uhm…can it wait Emily? I'm almost done with the parents. I'll meet you in twenty minutes."

Emily stood, frustrated again as Eric walked off, mulling over a file.

She knew this couldn't wait. She knew she had to get this guy now, for Annie's sake and for her own peace of mind.

She ran to her locker and changed. She let her hair down and did her makeup, allowing herself to look a little more the part of a drug buyer. She put on a dark jacket that hid her badge and gun. She ran out the door and hopped into her Hummer.

Half an hour later she parked the Hummer a few blocks from her destination. She turned on the GPS signal, in case Eric decided to look for her and turned on her cell phone. She called Eric. She wanted him to hear everything.

She got out of the car and walked quickly to her destination. She turned a corner into a small alley.

"Hello?" She called, slowing her step a little to look as though she was stumbling.

A lone figure of a tall man at the end of the alley turned. "Hey. You the buyer?"

"Yup." She answered, swaying slightly as she came to stop in front of him.

"How much cash?"

"A grand." She said, pulling out a wad of bills.

"That'll get you a bit. I'll be right back." He said making to turn into a small side door.

"No, you won't move!" Emily said, changing her tone and drawing her gun. "Put your hands up in the air where I can see them."

"What the hell is this?" He said putting up his hands and turning around.

"You are under arrest for the murder of Annie Mancinelli." Emily said steadily, keeping the gun trained on the suspect.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." He said, smirking.

"Oh really? Do you know the Mingens', Annie's foster parents?"

He returned her glare, silently.

"Ha! Of course you don't. You only called their house on your cell phone just days before the girl's death. Can I see your shoes for a moment?"

He obediently lifted up his right foot.

"Ah…Nike Doernbacher Air Max Rivals. Size ten, am I right? Is that blood on the bottom of your shoes?" Emily said triumphantly.

"You weren't the only one there were you? You had accomplices." Emily continued.

"I did," he smirked. "I still do."

One of the doors behind the suspect opened and a man and woman came out, holding guns. Emily stood in shock.

"Drop your gun." A steely, blue-eyed, blonde woman ordered.

Emily lowered her gun to the ground slowly. She noted the shoes. Both the new man and the woman were wearing shoes that matched the prints at the Crime Scene.

"Search her, Danny." The woman ordered her companion.

Danny walked over to Emily and turned her, shoving her against the wall. He began patting her down. He took her badge and her cell phone.

"You know I would usually be the one to do this to you." Emily said defiantly.

"Shut up!" The woman said, walking over and pressing the barrel of the gun to the side of her head.

"Hey, Shelley," Danny said. "She had a call going out to someone."

Shelley grabbed the phone and threw it as hard as she could. Emily could hear it shatter into what she imagined was a thousand pieces against the brick wall.

Emily felt the barrel of the gun press against her head just a little harder.

"So, an undercover police officer, alone, is trying to bust a big drug ring?" Shelley said haughtily. "How old are you anyway?"

"Sixteen." Replied Emily.

"A sixteen year old Cop? And you thought you could handle us by yourself," Shelley said. "Pathetic."

Shelley turned her around roughly and punched her in the face. Emily staggered against the wall

"Like that?" Shelley said with a haughty smirk as Emily staggered to her feet. Emily saw Danny move towards her out of the corner of her eye.

"Danny, no!" Shelley ordered. She turned her cold gaze back to Emily as Danny stopped in mid-swing. "She's mine.

Emily ducked the next punch that came at her fairly easily, but was unable to evade the harsh kick in the ribs that Shelley's left foot delivered to her right side. She gasped in pain as she fell back, the back of her head hitting the brick wall.

She was dazed. Shelley took the opportunity to take more well aimed kicks to her ribs with her left foot.

Emily finally found the strength to move. She saw her gun lying close by. If she could just get to it…

She rolled away from Shelley, pretending to be on the defensive as she curled into a ball. Shelley followed her, aiming another kick at her bruised ribs. Emily heard a crack and gasped in pain. She tried to get up, her eyes watering. The gun lay on the ground, forgotten.

Shelley grabbed Emily's shirt and shoved her up against the wall. She punched the Emily in the nose again. Emily fell to the ground.

She looked up, glaring at Shelley, who was smirking at her. She tried to get to her feet, but Shelley moved first. She swept her foot under Emily and kicked upward, causing Emily to fall back into the wall.

Emily heard sirens. She had never heard a sweeter sound.

"Drop your weapons!" Emily could hear multiple voices, shouting orders. The blows stopped. She heard Eric and Ryan's voices, shouting along with the others.

She raised her head slowly and wiped the blood off of her mouth with her sleeve. She shook her head, trying to clear her blurry vision. As she tried to stand on slow, shaky legs, she gasped as pain shot up and down her right side.

"Emily! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Eric yelled as he ran up to her.

"I'm sorry. It couldn't wait. We had to get them." Emily mumbled.

"You should have at least called for backup."

"I know."

"Emily you could have been killed."

"I know, Eric!" Emily shouted. "I just…look I need to go."

Emily stumbled off, holding her side. She was sure she had a broken rib somewhere.

She made it to her Hummer and slid in slowly, grasping her side. She wiped her face with her sleeve again and started her car. She drove slowly back the lab.

She managed to sneak back to the locker room without being noticed by too many people. She found a first aid kit, took out an Ace Bandage and wrapped her torso carefully; just tightly enough that it was not too painful and it supported the rib at the same time. She cleaned up her face and changed back into the shirt she had been wearing this morning. She took two Advil, and checked her appearance one last time in the mirror. She looked well enough. She walked out, ready to face the rest of the day.


	7. Closure

When the Cat's Away Chapter 7

Emily stood in the Trace Lab, booking evidence from Annie Mancinelli's Case. She had just finished matching shoeprints and the blood on the shoe prints as well fingerprints. They all matched Shelley, Danny, and David, the original drug dealer. She also found out that David was Shelley's husband, and that Danny and David were brothers. They seemed to make a fine and dandy trio, too. She had heard from an Officer that several more arrests had been made, shutting down a major part of a large drug ring.

She put the evidence in a box, marked it completed, and left it in Valera's capable hands. She needed a walk. A long walk.

She walked slowly to the stairs, arms crossed to disguise the fact that her left arm was supporting her right side, which was still painful despite the Advil she had taken earlier.

She walked up the stairs and came out on the roof of the building. She walked over and rested her forearms on the top of the ledge that ran around the length of the roof. She could see pretty well from there. The sunshine warmed her, and a slight breeze helped her relax, and breathe, clearing away the stress of the day. She allowed herself to slip back into memories.

She remembered the weekend after her first case when she had gone to see little Annie at the hospital. She had played with the girl for a while, talking to her and comforting her when she cried. She had spoken to a Child Services agent who had assured her that a very good foster home had been found for Annie, a place where she would be safe and loved.

_So much for that…_Emily thought. She had been horrified to find that the mutilated body on the bed was Annie's. Anger had heightened her determination to solve this case. That anger had increased at the interview with the parents, and had driven her to try to capture David and his accomplices without any backup.

"Hey." Ryan's voice called out from behind her. She turned to see Ryan and Eric approaching.

"Hi." she mumbled.

The joined her on the ledge.

"Emily, I know I was harsh with you earlier. I was just worried. This case seemed to hit close to home for you. I didn't want you to do anything rash." Eric said softly.

Emily didn't answer. It was amazing how one day could change your whole perspective.

Yesterday, Eric had playfully chased her around the lab.

Today she had fought with him.

"You were almost killed. Twice. I mean, who knows what David would've done to you if he had managed to take you from that basement? Who knows what would've happened if we had not come after you when you tried to take three drug ring leaders on your own?" Eric continued.

"We don't want to lose you, Emily." Ryan put in, laying his hand gently on her shoulder.

"Look, the parents were being threatened by David. He was their electrician, apparently. He told them that if they wouldn't store the drugs in the house, he would kill Annie. They had taken in Annie before they took in the drugs." Eric began to explain.

"It seems the child made pretty good leverage, too. They managed to threaten Mr. Mingen into moving the drugs to various locations and warehouses. Mr. Mingen gave all these locations up, which helped us make numerous arrests. Shelley wanted more out of the Mingen's though, and they were refusing to do anything after all the drugs were out of the house. She decided kidnapping the girl would help further her cause." Ryan said.

Eric picked up the story. "Shelley was in the process of binding Annie when she decided, with all of those drugs in the house and a dead foster child, she could teach the Mingens that her demands were to be met always by putting them in jail for murder. She killed Annie in order to frame them."

Emily stepped back shaking her head. "Hadn't she already been through enough? She watched as her parents were killed, for heaven's sake!" A tear slipped down Emily's cheek.

"Emily, we caught the people that did this," Eric said. "We have done our job. I think it's time we just let it go."

Emily nodded. She looked up at Eric and managed a weak smile. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Eric answered. "How about a Smoothie?"

"Sound's good." Said Emily.

Eric watched his friend walk towards the stairs. He knew it would take her a while to get over this. He knew this had been hard for her and he was proud of her. She had acknowledged her mistakes, and had learned from the case. She was becoming an even better CSI, and that was what he wanted for her.

Emily poked at her smoothie with her straw forlornly. She felt really guilty about the way she had treated the Mingens. She sighed and got up, thanking Eric and Ryan. She hopped in her Hummer and drove to the Mingen house. She had some apologizing to do.

The next day Emily returned to the lab looking much better. She walked a little stiffly, and if anyone passed by too close to her right side she would wince and move away, but otherwise she was back to her normal self.

Eric smiled as he watched her tease Ryan, her eyes lighting up with her trademark smile. Things were getting back to normal.


	8. Returning Home

Horatio opened his office door slowly. He stepped in and removed in sunglasses, surveying the familiar space with a small smile on his face.

He had had a wonderful time with Calliegh on their honeymoon, but he had to admit it was good to be back at the familiar lab, working again. Relaxation was nice, but too much time without work put Horatio Caine on edge.

He crossed the room and sat down in his comfortable leather desk chair. He took a small key out of his pocket and opened the bottom drawer of his desk. He reverently put on his gun and clipped his badge onto his belt. He was feeling more and more like himself every minute.

He looked over the familiar desk noting the picture of the team that had been given to him by Eric and Ryan on his wedding day. He also had a new piece of artwork on the office wall. It was an almost perfectly done painting of him and Calliegh at their wedding. Emily's signature was at the bottom.

His eyes traveled back to the desk. There were three items on the desk that had not been there previously. He picked up a hilarious caricature drawing of Rick Stetler. He laughed at the words in the thought bubble. Also there was a picture of Emily and Eric, both covered in what looked like paint, shaving cream, and feathers. He put the picture aside with a smile. Sometimes he didn't even want to know.

He found a few folders of paperwork from the week before he had left. He sighed picking up a very innocent looking black pen.

Turned out the pen wasn't as innocent as it looked.

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